In the boundless vast desert, a lone plume of smoke rose straight up. The sunset’s last rays spilled over a wine flask, making the liquid inside seem to burn as one drank it.

The camel bells gradually quieted as the various merchant caravans gathered around their respective campfires and began cooking their meals.

“I say, years ago when we attacked Northern Liang, we shouldn’t have retreated! If we had marched straight into the capital, we wouldn’t have to be rushing back and forth like this!” someone shouted while biting into a flatbread.

“Easy for you to say. Back then there was internal strife in the royal court. If the Grand Prince hadn’t led troops back, who knows what might have happened.”

“Come on, the Grand Prince was just a sickly figurehead with a good appearance. Now he’s been sent to Eastern Chen…” someone sneered. “Eastern Chen is powerful, and the Northern Liang Emperor is just a child of a few years. Why not crush them?”

BOOM!

The campfire before them suddenly exploded, sparks flying onto their leather goods, nearly setting them ablaze. The group scrambled to extinguish the flames. The merchant caravan leader, with emerald green eyes, stared intently at the solitary campfire in the distance, where a man wearing a bamboo hat sat warming himself while holding a sword.

“Hey! Boy!” he shouted in Loufan language, but got no response. So he switched to Central Plains official language, “Boy——“

Hearing this, the man slowly raised his head, revealing a cold, pale, handsome face. He looked to be only in his early twenties, but his left eyebrow was severed by a scar, his gaze sharp. His lips were pressed into a tight line, giving him a fierce appearance.

A tough one.

The caravan leader met his gaze and said coldly, “Central Plains boy! Was that your doing just now?”

The man gave him a cold glance, then lowered his head again, nonchalantly continuing to warm his hands by the fire.

“The audacity!” The caravan leader cursed in Loufan language. The burly Loufan men beside him understood his meaning, and dozens of large men surrounded the youth.

The flames danced, and the crackling sounds seemed especially harsh in the dead silence.

Swoosh——

The Loufan people were skilled with heavy sabers. In an instant, the burning campfire was scattered in all directions by their strikes.

However, the young man’s martial skills were extraordinary. He easily dodged more than a dozen slashing heavy sabers and landed on a sand dune behind him.

“Heh.”

Then he let out an extremely contemptuous and provocative sound of mockery.

“Kill him!” the caravan leader roared in anger.

Yellow sand flew about, flames leaped, and the restless jingling of camel bells was especially clear in the darkness.

A still-sheathed sword was pressed against the caravan leader’s throat. He stared in terror into the young man’s pitch-black, ice-cold eyes, his official language stuttering with fear, “Swordsman, don’t kill me!”

The young man tugged at the corner of his mouth. “The Northern Liang Emperor is not for your discussion.”

“I’m… I’m sorry…” the man lying on the ground stammered his apology.

“The desert is beautiful to look at, but the people aren’t much.” The young man snorted coldly, raised his sword, and turned away coldly.

A cold arrow aimed at his heart, but before it could be released, his sword flashed, and hot blood spilled into the yellow sand.

“I despise people who shoot arrows from behind the most.” The young man’s face showed a disgusted expression, and his unsheathed sword had drunk its fill of blood.

****

Northern Liang, Yuanxing sixth year, Anhan Prefecture.

Finally able to be relieved of his post and return to the capital, the Anhan Prefect Xu Xiude, with his round, bulging belly, was smiling like a sleek, well-groomed fat rat. As people helped him prepare to board the ship, he turned to look at the place where he had spent six years, but his view was blocked by a crowd of commoners kneeling on the ground.

“Xu Daren! Don’t leave!”

“Xu Daren! You are our second parent! If not for you, our entire family would still be starving. Please don’t go!”

“Xu Daren!”

“Xu Daren!! Don’t leave, you can’t go!”

Xu Xiude smiled and waved at them, “No need to see me off, no need. Go home! It’s busy springtime…”

As he smiled, his eyes grew moist. He turned away to secretly wipe his tears, mumbling complaints to Wen Yu beside him, “Who leaked the news? Weren’t we supposed to leave quietly?”

Wen Yu looked at him expressionlessly, “Daren, last night you got drunk, hugged a pillar while wailing that you didn’t want to leave. Half the prefecture could hear you.”

“Nonsense, how absurd!” Xu Xiude snorted. “I can’t wait to fly back to the capital!”

Wen Yu shrugged, seeing his reddened eyes, and sighed, “Daren, just say a proper goodbye to the people. After you go back, you’ll enter the cabinet again.”

“…What bad luck! I’ll never enter the cabinet again even if it kills me!” Xu Xiude snorted a couple of times.

Before Emperor Wu Zhao passed away, he had been summoned to the capital to enter the cabinet, but after the late emperor’s death, the official who took over Anhan got into trouble. Because the new emperor was young and liked to be distracted by his big belly during court sessions, the Regent sent him back to Anhan.

How could they toy with him like this!

On the ship, Xu Xiude muttered discontentedly, while Wen Yu beside him expressionlessly struggled to hold back laughter. However, Wen Yu spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.

“Daren, go ahead first. I’ll catch up shortly,” Wen Yu said softly.

Xu Xiude thought he had forgotten something important and nodded his permission. After all, Wen Yu was not only extremely capable in his duties but also had superb martial arts skills. Two years ago, when Xu Xiude was ambushed and nearly run through, the normally unassuming Wen Yu had suddenly rushed out and broken the assassin’s sword with just two fingers.

He had hidden depths.

“Chief!” Wen Yu pushed through the crowd and grabbed the young man wearing a bamboo hat. When he turned his face, Wen Yu’s eyes immediately brightened, though his expression remained unchanged. “It really is you.”

Chong Heng looked down at the hand gripping his arm. Wen Yu immediately let go but couldn’t help asking, “Chief, there’s been no news of you since the late emperor passed away. The brothers all miss you.”

“How does the new emperor treat you all?” Chong Heng asked.

Wen Yu paused for a moment. His Majesty had been on the throne for six years now and could hardly be called the new emperor anymore. But he knew Chong Heng had deep feelings for the late emperor, so he didn’t comment further. “His Majesty treats the brothers very well. Li Mu has also moved from the shadows into the light and is highly regarded by the Regent… Chief, where have you been all these years?”

“Just wandering around,” Chong Heng lowered his eyes, cradling his sword.

He had already traveled throughout Great Liang, Southern Zhao, Eastern Chen, and Loufan. Perhaps he should visit the Southern Frontier next.

“When will you return to the palace?” Wen Yu asked. “The Regent has asked about you.”

“I won’t go back,” Chong Heng said quietly. “The master said it’s not a good place, and I listen to him.”

Wen Yu opened his mouth, then closed it. “I understand.”

Although the Regent treated the late emperor’s former servants well, it was still a different ruler’s court. Regular officials from the previous reign might be fine, but for shadow guards like them who walked the line between life and death, the rulers naturally trusted those they had personally trained and promoted.

“Since you’ve taken the open path and entered officialdom, do it well,” Chong Heng paused before continuing. “Don’t mention to the new emperor or the Regent that you’ve seen me.”

“…Understood.” Wen Yu nodded.

“Go now,” Chong Heng looked at the ship that was about to leave the shore. “The ship is about to depart.”

Wen Yu glanced at the shore where commoners were bidding farewell and at Xu Xiude who was waving energetically from the bow and crying harder than the commoners. He couldn’t help but smile, then looked back at Chong Heng. “Chief, come visit the capital sometime.”

Chong Heng nodded. “Safe journey.”

“Take care.” Wen Yu saluted him with clasped hands, then turned and walked toward the ship.

When he looked back again, Chong Heng had already disappeared into the bustling crowd.

He didn’t linger any longer and strode onto the ship returning to the capital.

At the end of Yuanxing’s seventh year, Chong Heng returned from the Southern Frontier and stayed in Sifang City in Southern Zhao for a period.

“That little emperor of Northern Liang really has some ability. Eastern Chen’s marriage alliance failed; they must be furious.”

“After Shen Yao died, Eastern Chen went downhill! The only capable fighter Eastern Chen has now is Yu Polu, yet he’s not respected. They find ways to humiliate him, which is simply asking for death…”

“They say Northern Liang’s female prime minister is truly a heroine among women. Her sharp tongue left Eastern Chen without a shred of dignity… A group of grown men outmatched by a woman…”

“What’s wrong with being a woman? Don’t forget she was Young Master Wen Bin, once the foremost of the Four Young Masters! Northern Liang’s youngest top scholar… Even if you were reborn, you couldn’t hope to match her… Oh my, are you upset? I’m speaking the truth…”

Chong Heng held his wine cup, propping his head up as he slowly sipped his wine. A man with a scraggly beard sat down across from him and smiled, “Young brother, may I join you?”

Chong Heng raised his eyelids to look at him, then lifted his hand to indicate he could sit.

“Young brother, may I ask you about someone?” The man ordered a pot of wine as well. “Have you seen a handsome monk wearing white robes?”

“No,” Chong Heng took a sip of wine.

The man didn’t seem to mind his coldness or his brief answer, nodding with a smile, “I see.”

“Are you looking for someone?” Chong Heng noted his dusty gray clothes.

“Ah, I’ve been looking for him for a long time. His name is Zhanhua, Ye Zhanhua.” The man quickly drank half a pot of wine and smiled at him. “If you happen to see him, tell him someone named Ji Huai is waiting for him in Wanlai City.”

Chong Heng didn’t respond and just continued drinking his wine.

The pot of wine was soon empty, and the man stood up swaying, ready to leave.

“I may have seen him once,” Chong Heng spoke up. The man’s eyes immediately lit up with excitement. Chong Heng rotated the wine cup in his hand. “Eight or nine years ago, my brother exchanged a dagger with him for several soul-breaking threads.”

The man’s eyes instantly dimmed, and after a long silence, he asked, “Was there a jade-green gemstone inlaid in that dagger?”

“Yes, my brother had it forged by a famous Western Regions craftsman. It could cut through iron like mud,” Chong Heng said.

That monk had looked like an evil one, exuding murderous energy. His brother had fought him for three days and three nights without a clear winner. Later, his brother coveted the monk’s soul-breaking threads and used trickery, nearly shattering the man into pieces, shamelessly exchanging the dagger for several threads. When they parted, he strongly suspected that the evil monk would eventually come seeking revenge, and remained vigilant for a long time.

The man sighed and smiled, “Thank you.”

Chong Heng opened his mouth. The man called Ji Huai seemed good-natured. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, forget it,” Chong Heng lowered his eyelids and continued slowly sipping his wine.

He wanted to find Liang Ye, but couldn’t mention his name. If others knew that Northern Liang’s Emperor Wu Zhao might still be alive, it would stir up countless troubles.

But Ji Huai seemed to see through his thoughts. “Are you also looking for someone?”

“Yes,” Chong Heng replied coldly.

“Perhaps I can help——” Ji Huai seemed a bit meddlesome.

“I’ve given up looking,” Chong Heng tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I wish you success in your search.”

Ji Huai clasped his hands in salute and left.

Chong Heng finished the pot of wine. At the next table, a group of scholars were discussing plans to take the imperial examinations in Northern Liang and enter government service, their voices loud and full of ambition.

“Northern Liang’s reforms have been hugely successful, attracting talents from all directions. If we go, we’ll surely carve out a place for ourselves!”

“And merchants can also enter government service now. Northern Liang is full of talented people. As long as you have real ability, you definitely won’t starve!”

“Young Master Wen Bin is now committed to selecting female officials. I want my sister to go to Northern Liang with me. The inner chambers are far more limiting than the outside world. Besides marriage, she can have a better future…”

“The Northern Liang Emperor is a wise ruler who knows how to gather and use talents…”

“After we part today, who knows when we’ll meet again. Come!”

Wine cups clinked, making a crisp sound.

Chong Heng tugged at the corner of his mouth, picked up his wine pot, filled it to the brim again, and left the tavern with his sword.

The New Year’s fireworks had barely faded when the willows turned green.

In the misty rain among the smoky willows, a fast horse once again passed through the capital’s city gate.

This was the eighth year of Northern Liang’s Yuanxing era.

The ninth year since Emperor Wu Zhao, Liang Ye, had died.